Mother of Mexican-American Student Killed In Paris Received Her College Degree In Her Honor

Nohemi Gonzalez was living her dream of studying in Paris when a series of coordinated terrorists attacks rocked the city in November of last year. The college student was eating with friends at a cafe when she was shot and killed. This week, California State University, Long Beach has posthumously awarded Gonzalez her degree in Industrial Design, which was awarded to her grieving mother.

In November 2015, Nohemi Gonzalez was one of the more than 100 people killed in the Paris attacks.

Gonzalez was a California State University, Long Beach student and a proud Mexican-American studying abroad in the City of Lights. She was shot and killed while eating at a cafe with friends just one month before she was supposed to return home to California.

Gonzalez would have been the first person in her family to graduate from college.

“This year, the tragic and terrible acts of terror that scar our world hit hard and incredibly close to home,” said Cyrus Parker-Jeannette, the dean of the College of the Arts. “As many of you know, we lost one of our beautiful and talented students to the awful violence in Paris this fall.”

“Nohemi Gonzalez was a bright light among the very bright students of our design department,” the department dean said before awarding the diploma.

“”I always get emotional when it comes to remembering all the achievements of my daughter. It’s very sad for me,” Beatriz told WLS-TV ABC7. “She’s always going to live in my heart and the diploma is going to remind me of the wonderful person that she was.”